One cannot study 17th century warfare without a tip of a hat to Sweden's Lion. It was Gustavus Adolphus's participation in the Thirty Years War that helped save the Protestant forces from further defeats at the hands of the Catholic armies.
Archer Jones's The Art of War in the Western World gave a good account of King Adolphus. Yet the father of modern warfare did have some help. His reorganization of the Swedish army was based on Dutch innovations introduced by Maurice of Nassau. These included breaking up the cumbersome pike squares into smaller units and spreading out the width of his pikemen and placing more arquebusiers (called gunners for ease) on their flanks. In addition,the gunners were reorganized into deeper formations that would allow for a more constant rate of fire for gunner formations using rotating volleys. Smaller infantry formations made command and control a bit easier. This also made tactical positioning easier to cover the vulnerable flanks from cavalry strikes.Tactical reorganization was not the only innovation Maurice introduced. These forces was given regular pay and strict drill regiments to increase discipline.
King Adolphus took these innovations a step further by increasing the number of artillery units and deploying lighter, mobile cannons, as well as giving pistol-armed cavalry swords to keep their shock value in charges against opposing cavalry. Though imperfect (though warfare is never perfect), this 'new model' army would be the standard for commanders of the 17th century.
The Art of War in the Western World by Archer Jones, Oxford Press, New York (214-266).
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